10 March 2009

For years, the content industries having been trying to get laws passed that would stop people sharing files. For years they failed. And then they came up with the "three strikes and you're out" idea - and it is starting to be adopted around the world. First we had France, then countries like Italy, Ireland - and now South Korea:

On March 3, 2009, the National Assembly's Committee on Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting & Communications (CCSTB&C) passed a bill to revise the Copyright Law. The bill includes the so called, "three strikes out" or "graduated response" provision.

...

The provision gives authority to order ISP to send warning letters to the users, delete or stop transmission of illegal reproductions, suspend or terminate the accounts of the users, or close the bulletine boards to the Ministry. It also gives power to order information and telecommunication service providers to block connections to their information and telecommunication network of such ISPs.

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The modified bill will be up for vote in April, and it is most likely that the bill pass in the National Assembly and come into force in April.

What's the secret? why has the "three strikes" idea caught on where others have failed? And what is the best way to stop it spreading further?

Main idea of whole thing is that internet access should be considered as human right and 1 ) embodied in some international treaty such as Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and enforced by e.g. European court of Human rights. E.g. establish some amendment to this Convention.

2) or within EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This is going to be legally bounding document after ratification of Lisbon treaty.

It appears to me that the people behind "Three Strikes And Your Out" are only trying to protect those who create the software, music, movies and articles such as yours from piracy. Even if you don't have a copyright on your work and don't make money off of it, wouldn't you rather get recognition for your hard work?nonglic

Re Ireland, it should not be in the list of counties you mention. The Eircom / Irma case is still ongoing - pending further input from the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland. So it may or may not come in, and in any case would no be a piece of government legislation.

About Me

I have been a technology journalist and consultant for 30 years, covering
the Internet since March 1994, and the free software world since 1995.

One early feature I wrote was for Wired in 1997:
The Greatest OS that (N)ever Was.
My most recent books are Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, and Digital Code of Life: How Bioinformatics is Revolutionizing Science, Medicine and Business.